Posted on 08/27/2016 5:55:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times EDT):
4:20 p.m.
Donald Trump is telling Iowans that one of his campaign goals is to "make America grow again."
Speaking at a rally Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump touted his plans to boost economic growth and help American farmers, including his proposal to lower the tax rate on family farms to 15 percent....
(Excerpt) Read more at lancasterfarming.com ...
Obviously, the greatest thing that would help farmers is higher commodity prices. Presently, grain prices are at about the level it costs to grow the crops. This can’t go on for long for most farmers who don’t have another income or a really generous banker. There’s an old story that a bushel of wheat will make 60 loaves of bread. If wheat is $4/bu, that’s less than seven cents per loaf, but what does a loaf of bread cost? The farmer isn’t responsible for what the grocery store charges, no matter what so many people seem to think.
It’s a grey area in tax law. Passive has a complex definition with lots of subitem descriptions.
People that own arable land for the sole purpose of collecting a tax grant for NOT GROWING should be thought of as passive non-working.
In my view, a farmer or rancher who employs or contracts with others for farm labor is active and working as long as he or she are directly involved in taking the product to market.
Owners of farms with managers that call up or arrange for the transportation of products to markets should not be considered active-working.
This is the nature of the Income Tax, that all manner of definitions and conditions have to be codified and enforced in order to be ‘fair’ and it’s never fair.
The consumption tax after essential spending aka “FairTax” (no space for the brand name) which is introduced in the House every year as HR 25 would solve the problem hands down.
I am sensing that Trump is receptive to it.
Start with getting rid of the USDA, the Bureau of Land Management and the EPA.
Way more of them than farmers that’s for sure.
Hey Brother! I've got an idea. Let's hire Lesbians to do the farming too and then we can rectify that no small family farms thingy. They can sell their non-phallic veggies at the organic farmers market from 12-3 so the evil working man can't partake of the fruits of their labor. /off rant
A presidential candidate talking farming issues. Wow!
Been a long time. The only thing we have heard lately
is about the guvmint encouraging (funding) lesbians to
get into farming.
How is he going to fix all this stuff?
Wow, wow, wow! Talk about speech for sore ears. It seemed family farms were altogether forgotten as they struggle to remain and then along comes Donald Trump.
Another item that seems natural in considering how to differentiate active-working from passive-non-working would be to own the land, seed and livestock, to declare it as the primary residence and to live on it more than 6 months out of the year.
For those that own other lands outside the primary farm or ranch, too bad. Those lands get taxed maximally. This encourages smaller farms and ranches.
Absolutely no loopholes for setting up tenant farms/ranches other than tenant farmers/ranchers get the tax benefits, not the landlords.
Many of the large food service conglomerates own their corporate farms/ranches and have professional managers to handles everything. They will scream bloody murder and proclaim that food prices will go through the roof. Screw ‘em. They can be given 5 years to disassemble their local market monopolies to sell and train smaller private farmers to get in the door. If they don’t, they can be taxed to hell and back until they do.
I personally think that a young couple given an opportunity to farm and ranch, and to market their products in free markets, will be healthy for America.
I have personally witnessed the rescue of an entire generation from drugs on the islands because the elders figured out that the youth could be certified in farming and be assisted in winning contracts to sell products into the markets. The youth that worked and succeeded were healthy and strong. The previous generation that fell victim to boredom, sex, drugs and rock and roll were unhealthy, devoid of ambition other than to scrounge for funds to buy weed and were left to become totally worthless human beings who contributed not one iota of value to the American civilization.
BS. Those “small family” farms suck off the government teat. It’s a sad fact, and if you wish to carry the conversation farther, it is best to acknowledge it.
What should be done with those mountains of surplus corn?
Give them more ethanol subsidies!
I know small farmers don’t get subsidies but do big incorporated farms get them?
I know that there used to be big marketing subsidies for large middlemen.
And ending the taxes that kill the inheritance of the family farms. I
AND ACTUALLY GETTING RID OF THE INHERITANCE TAX WOULD GENERATIVE MORE TAX REVENUE AS HEIRS WOULD HAVE TO PAY CAPITAL GAINES TAX.
HERE IS INFO, VERY LITTLE FEDERAL ESTATE TAXES ARE PAID.
http://www.cbpp.org/research/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax
SO WHY DO THE HEIRS SELL THE FARM? THEY WANT THE MONEY AND IT IS TAX FREE money and they don’t want to farm.
Actually not. Most of the ‘subsidies’ are insurance options (you pay for). The profit margin of farming is about 3 to 5 percent. Say for an average farm, you have an outlay of 250k per quarter of land. Bad crop year (too much rain, not enough, etc) and you are out the money. Most farms in my area are 12 quarters. Add the equipment anywhere from 150k to 500k for a tractor or combine, bins, storage, elevator fees. You do the math.
This is a fantastic idea since over half of family farms must be sold to cover estate taxes.
This will draw a lot of hate from the farmer-haters who think we get rich on govt. subsidies. That ended for most farmers years ago.
What happens when you take the risk out of farming?
This is just one example and now think of all the other lobbying.
Not true. We barely skated under having to pay 40% on my mom’s share of the farm when she died and I want to continue to farm. That was just this year.
Our main crop is a vegetable for canning, we have a contract. On the other 2/3s of our acres we grow cotton, seed milo and silage corn. At the beginning of the year we put pen to paper and there was nothing except silage that penciled out and the dairies weren’t offering contracts. We chose to try 40 acres of Pima cotton and small grains for rotation and left about a third fallow, there was just no sense in other crops.
Changing the subject, I was just told something about some/many? migrant workers. They work the onion season in Texas and when that is over they get unemployment. They then come to New Mexico, work the season while on Texas unemployment then file for NM unemployment and then move on to Arizona. I didn’t see it with my own eyes but I intend to talk to my state senator about it.
I’m farmer and I beg to differ. Those days are long gone. There are cost-sharing environmental programs but the subsidies are long gone.
STOP!
You’re confusing PeterPrinciple
Ok, so where is my money going? If it is not going to you, then it’s going to your large, agri-business competition. So you’re screwed, and I don’t even get a thank-you note.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.